Lorenzo s



(N0 Model.)

` L. GRAVES. ELEVATGR CONTROLLER.

Patented July 23, 1895.

Witnesses z Inventor.

MMM/QW( Ntra STATES .arnNr reins.

LORENZO S. GRAVES, OF ROOHESTEBLNEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE GRAVES ELEVATOR COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELEVATOR-CONTROLLER'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 543,010, dated July 23, 1895. I

kApplication led August 1, 1894. Serial No. 519,195- (No model.)

.To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, LORENZO S. GRAVES, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have-invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevator-Gontrollers;` Y and I do hereby declare the following to be a and exact description of the same,

full, clear, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming. a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to that class of controlling devices for elevators in which a vertical rock-shaft is arranged in an elevater-well and connected to a valve or belt'- shifting device governing the car-operating motor, said rock-shaft being adapted to be operated from the car. In devices of this class great diculty has been experienced in providing a long shaft which will stand the torsional strain to which it is subjected when being operated from the car and one which can be made in lengths suitable for transportation and capable of being set up in position and in which the joints between the sections are so perfect that the parts are not liable to get out of alignment and catch on the operating devices on the car which slide over them, and -my present invention has for its object to obviate these objections.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a portion of an elevator-car, showing the application of my invention thereto; Fig. 2, a horizontal sectional View on the line a: Fig. 3, front and side elevation of a rockshaft constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 4, a perspective view of a portion of the same; Fig. 5, a section, and Fig. 6 a plan of the `supporting devices for said shaft.

Similar reference-numerals in the several figures indicate similar parts.

In the embodiment of the inventionshown in the drawings, l indicates 'the elevator-car adapted to travel up and down in the-well in the usual manner and operated by afsuitable motor.

2 indicates the vertical rock-'shaft forming the subject-matter of my present invention arranged in and extending the length of the well, having'a suitable arm 3 thereon connected by an arm 3* mediately or immediately to the valve, belt-shifter, or other device for governing and controlling the movements of the car. i

Arranged upon the car is a bracket or casting 4t, supporting a sleeve 5, shaped to fit around the rock-shaft 2 and having connected to it an operating portion, such as av gearsector 6, with which meshes a pinion '7, attached to a hand wheel or lever 8 inside the car. The general construction of these parts being well known and the arrangementbeing such that when the operator in the car rotates theV hand-wheel, the shaft 2 is oscillated on its center in one or the other direction, actuating the controlling-valve, and the car is moved by the motor, the sleeve sliding on the rock-shaft, which may, of course, be rocked at any time and the movements of the car readily controlled. Devices of this class have not been extensively used because ot the difticulty of obtaining long shafts (capable of being used in buildings of more than two or three stories) that will stand the torsional strain required without twisting and that can be made in sections for shipping and secured together in such manner that the joints betweenthem will remain firm and rigid without the liability of the ends coming. loose to catch on the sleeve on the car. I find that all these objections can be obviated by making ries of fiat steel strips or plates l0 lO, secured rigidly together in such manner that the points of connection between the strips of said rock-shaft 2, as shown herein, of two seeach series will break joints with those of the other series, and the connection` being further strengthened and the shaft made more rigid by forming upon one end ot each of the strips a tongue or projection 1l adapted to enter a corresponding recess 12 in the end 'of the adjacent section, the strips of the two se ries in the arrangement shown being connected by screws 13 having their heads countersunk in the surface of one series of the Jstrips. The strips 10 can be made in any confvenient lengths-.for shipping, and the tongues and recesses 11 and l2 are accurately formed bymilling, so that the shaft maybe made of any length desired in the elevator-well, and even if a hundredfeet long will be found perfectly rigid, and capable of standing without twist- IOO ing any reasonable torsional strain to which it is liable to be subjected.

The means for supporting the shaft 2 is shown more particularlyin Figs. 5 and 6, consisting of a split sleeve 15, clamped by bolts 16 to the upper end of said shaft and having sujriporting and adjusting screws 17, which rest upon a rotary collar or plate 1S, having an angular aperture through which the shaft passes to turn it, (though not rigidly connected thereto,) said collar resting in turn upon antit'riction rollers or balls 19 held in a groove in a plate 20, secured to a cross-beam 21, at the top of the elevator-Well. This arrangement provides for the adjustment of the rock-shaft, if necessary, and also enables it to be oscillated with little or no friction. The lower end of the shaft may be guided in any suitable 1nanner;but the shaft is preferably supported at the top.

The steel strips 10 are accurately formed, bei ng die-drawn, and may be readily obtained on the market, praoticallythe only fitting required being that obtained when milling or cutting the tongues and recesses and forming the screw-apertures. This construction 1natcrially lessens the i rst cost ol the rook-shaft and its erection and lnore than all obviates the necessity of the formation of longitudinal tongues or grooves and the services otskilled persons in joining such sections Without possibility of their coming loose so as to interfere with the operation of the car.

l claim as my invention- 1. In a controller for elevators, the co1nbination with the vertical rock-shaft arranged in the elevator Well and adapted to be oscillated on its vertical axis, said shaft being composed ot two series of connected fiat strips; the strips of each series having interlocking tongues and recesses and the points of connection ot the strips of each series breaking joints with those of the other series and a motor-controlling mechanism connected to and actuated by said shaft, of the car, and the devices on the car having a running hold on said rock-shaft for causing its oscillation on its center, substantially as described.

2. ln a controller for elevators, the combination with the vertical rock-shaft arranged in the well, the sleeve secured thereto, the collar loosely engaging the shaft, the vertical screws on the sleeve engaging the collar, the supporting plate and autifriction devices between it and the collar, ot the car vices on the car having a running hold on the rocloshatt for causing its oscillation, substantially as described.

LORENZO S. GRAVES.

Witnesses:

F. F. CHURCH, G. A. RODD.

and de- 

